1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to herbicide and/or insecticide application devices for farm crop and pastures which reclaim and reuse spray material that does not contact target weeds or other plant material.
2. The Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,168,798 to John O. Moore et al discloses a recirculating sprayer assembly for the application of herbicidal and other liquids to standing vegetation having spray nozzles for directing spray streams across a treatment zone onto a collector means for intercepting the spray streams after passage among the vegetation. There is a reservoir means for collecting liquid recovered by the collector and suction means to draw recovered liquid from the reservoir means back to a supply tank from which liquid is drawn and pressurized for passage through the sprayer system. The recirculating sprayer assembly may be mounted on a tractor for traversing an agricultural area.
One form of collector means disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,168,798 is a generally planar fibrous mat extending transverse to the travel direction of the tractor and mounted over a correspondingly extended reservoir. The fibrous material of the mat reduces splatter from spray stream impact and also tends to operate as a filter, thereby separating contaminants and impurities so that the liquid to be recirculated is relatively clean. The admission of foreign particles into the reservoir is limited by the lower end of the mat extending through an opening in the reservoir.